Talk-show lover charged over girlfriend's killing

A Spaniard who was snubbed by his estranged Russian girlfriend on TV has been charged in connection with her death. Ricardo Navarro faces charges of killing Svetlana Orlova last Sunday, four days after she turned down his marriage proposal on a TV talk s

Flowers and candles are being laid outside the house in the Spanish city of Alicante where she was found with her throat cut.

Just days before her death, Svetlana Orlova agreed to appear on a TV talk show with a surprise guest.

According to Spanish newspapers, she thought the surprise would be her mother.

But instead it was her ex boyfriend.

Only a few weeks before he’d been given a restraining order for abusing her. Somehow the TV channel was not aware of these charges. He asked her to marry him on air. She said no.

Four days later she had her throat cut on the doorstep to her home.

She leaves behind her 5-year-old son.

Her ex-boyfriend Ricardo Navarro is being held in police custody as a murder suspect.

But he says he’s not guilty.

“He denies the accusation. So we are now waiting for the judge's decision, waiting to see if he is freed or on the contrary has to go to prison,” Jorge Ramon, Ricard Navarro's lawyer, said.

Many details in the case are unclear.

Shopkeepers at the Fontana shopping centre where Ricardo Navarro worked are staying tight lipped.

Svetlana’s family wants to repatriate her body.

But it's been suggested that her mother, who lives in St Petersburg, may not be able to afford to fly the body home. The could cost anything between 2800 and 4900 Euros.

The Russian community in Alicante, the Spanish city with the biggest Russian population, is now trying to gather the money help get Svetlana’s body home to give her a proper funeral.